Precious
by Persephone-Sings
Summary: Mistake number three, Hinata had decided as she was slammed up against a tree and pinned without landing more than five blows, was thinking too hard when she was fighting a stranger. Because this Sasuke was no one she had ever met before. GaaraHinataNarut
1. Precious Part One

Title: Precious

Author: PersephoneSings

Date: 11/24/04

Author's note: I'm thinking of turning this into a multi-story series, following the paths of Naruto, Gaara, and Hinata. In fact, even as I type this I find I keep getting all sorts of ideas. Anyway, enjoy this. It can stand on its own and has hints of Naruto/Gaara/Hinata in it.

Precious: Part One

He had asked her to come out to train with him awhile, so he could make use of her Byakuugan. Hinata didn't mind since she was often asked to step in as a training partner just for that purpose. If she found it odd that Uchiha Sasuke would approach her after five years of hardly speaking a word to anyone in the village, she didn't voice it.

Nor did she tell anyone where they were going to train. She would think, later on, that this was probably her first mistake. Trust came so easily to her because she wanted everyone to be honest and approachable.

And so she had followed him, blindly even with the supposed aid of her blood limit sight, deep into the forest, past the river and past the fenced off area they had passed the first part of the first and second Chuunin exams they had participated in. When they entered a large clearing, one that she had never seen before, she began to think she had made a mistake.

She wondered how many people knew of this particular area and how loudly she could scream. Would even Kiba's sensitive ears pick up her cries for help? She had shaken off the feeling almost immediately. This was Sasuke. They had grown up together in the same class. She had thought she was being silly and easily spooked.

He had attacked without warning and if she hadn't activated her Byakuugan as soon as they had entered a part of the forest she wasn't familiar with, she probably would have lost an ear as she dove out of the way. As it was she swore she saw hair being sliced off.

It was a close call for a starting move. Too close.

As she frantically dodged his kicks and his punches, blocked jutsu after jutsu, used water to douse fire, she grimly considered her second mistake.

Turning a cheek at a friend's faults or not being bothered by a quirk was all well and good, but she, who always believed herself a good judge of character, should have been able to see the difference in his eyes.

Sasuke was frozen.

His eyes, even lit by the red of Sharingan, were glacial in their distance. There was no determined young ninja in his eyes anymore. There was death and destruction and a hatred so strong it burned not hot, but arctic cold.

Mistake number three, Hinata had decided as she was slammed up against a tree and pinned without landing more than five blows, was thinking too hard when she was fighting a stranger. Because this Sasuke was no one she had ever met before.

And as she stared into his frigid eyes, watched them turn from red back to his normal dark color, she wondered if she would have the chance to make a fourth.

"Did you bring me out here to kill me, Sasuke?" Hinata couldn't read his face and wished her Byakuugan read emotions better.

Sasuke smiled, but it wasn't in the least bit pleasant and it made her stomach knot up.

"Are you afraid to die, Hyuuga heir?"

"Well, if you had been planning this for awhile, it would have been nice of you to notify me so I could have prepared better. I'm not even dressed appropriately." She really didn't think sarcasm would help ease her out of the situation, but Hinata had passed the point of really caring what others thought of her a couple of years ago. If she was going to die, though she really didn't think so, she might as well go being as vocal as possible. She had a lot of silent years to make up for, after all.

Something flickered in his eyes before he turned his Sharingan back on and she thought it might have been humor.

"You've been hiding yourself from the village, Hyuuga Hinata. When did you get so mouthy? Didn't they teach you at the academy stuff like that could get you killed?" He dropped one of his hands down from her neck to rest against his side.

Hinata shrugged as well as she could, being held a couple of inches off the ground by the remaining hand around her neck "I like to keep some secrets, you know. Although, I think this situation has upped my level of vocality. We could continue the conversation with my feet on the ground, if you prefer?" She could hardly believe she dared to be this mouthy.

His eyes narrowed and his hand began to glow blue as chakra began to crackle in his palm.

He tilted his head, as if considering her proposal, but he shook his head, "No, I don't think so. I like you just where you are. Are you ready, Hyuuga, to die as the weakling you were born to be?"

Her eyes widened when she felt the power emanating from his hand.

"I don't understand. Why, exactly, are you planning on killing me?" Buying time, she thought to herself scornfully, for what? Her knight in shining armor? Did those even exist anymore? She didn't think so.

He glared at her.

"Do you not know? How has everyone remained oblivious to my plots? This is it, don't you see? I'm leaving; I'm declaring war on this village. You are my way of doing so. They will find the remains of their precious heir to the most powerful clan in the village with a note attached from me."

Hinata eyed him warily as he increased the power in his hand, "Don't you think it's all a little cliched?"

"Cliched, how?"

She laughed, "Come on, Itachi did this, Mizuki tried to do this, and I'm sure Orochimaru did it, as well. Everyone always kills someone powerful and then uses it as a message or leaves one. You should really do something else."

He was angry, she could see, and it made her feel better, if not a little stupid for antagonizing him. Oh well, she thought as he made to raise his fist, better to go out with a bang.

"What would you have me do, Hyuuga?"

She smiled brightly at him, wondering if he could read her fear, "Well, funny you should ask because I was kind of hoping you'd let me be your messenger. Alive, I'd walk back to the village and inform them of your decision. What do you say?"

Sasuke laughed low in his throat. "I say you die." He dropped his hand from around her neck and she dropped the couple of inches to the ground. He pulled back to slam his fist against her and Hinata forced herself to not close her eyes as he thrust his fist at her mid-section.

Oh god, she thought, I'm not getting out of this one.

To be continued . . .


	2. Precious Part Two

Precious: Part Two

"Hinata!" A voice startled her and her eyes flicked from Sasuke to see Naruto racing towards them.

Just as a whimper made it past her clenched teeth, a wall of sand flew up between Sasuke's fist of pure chakra and her body.

She saw the impression of his fist in the sand as it pushed against the power, but his Chidori didn't break through the wall.

She let out a whoosh of air as his fist suddenly disappeared. The wall of sand slid down, following her as her legs suddenly refused to support her.

She looked up in time to see Naruto's foot slam into Sasuke's face. She was panting but refused to acknowledge it as hyperventilating because she was supposed to be able to control stuff like that.

She sat amidst a pile of sand, watching as it shifted occassionaly to let her know that it was still prepared to jump between her and any danger. She glanced around for it's owner and saw Gaara standing beside Naruto as they watched Sasuke get up from where he had been knocked flat.

Sasuke slid his thumb over his lip to wipe away the blood from Naruto's attack. He watched Gaara warily.

"You blocked my attack with sand? How is that possible? The last time we fought I was able to penetrate even your final move."

Gaara smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "That was over five years ago, Sasuke. While it appears you have not grown in the slightest, I have. My sand is virtually impenetrable. It's especially voracious when my opponent's aim is to kill a friend of mine. Explain yourself."

Sasuke glared at him, clearly fighting the urge to jump him. A growl from Naruto reminded him not to forget the blonde ninja and he merely shrugged.

"I am no longer a ninja of this village." At this, Sasuke pulled out his forehead protector from his pocket and used a kunai he grabbed to make a long horizontal slash through it. "Hyuuga Hinata lost our fight and as such, I demand blood."

Naruto snorted, "You demand blood? Well, hell, Sasuke! I'd be more than happy to oblige you." His eyes went hard and he flashed a sharp grin, showing pointed teeth, "Of course, it won't be Hinata's blood we'll be drawing."

Hinata, while the three men were talking, had already begun a set of seals. As an apprentice medic-nin, Hinata had been taught the strongest binding jutsus available. The jutsu took time and concentration, however, so it was most often useless in battle. If she had been able to use it, then her teammates wouldn't have had to come after her. After witnessing Sasuke's declaration, she was within her rights as Juunin-medical staff to return him to his village. She decided to ignore the fact that he hadn't actually left yet.

Sasuke cracked his knuckles and dropped into a loose crouch. "Come on, demon-spawn. Show me what you can do."

Naruto growled and made to move towards him but Gaara's arm caught his shoulder before he launched himself. He glanced at his teammate and raised an eyebrow.

Gaara shrugged and motioned towards Hinata, "She has it covered now."

Naruto looked at Hinata and then at Sasuke and burst out laughing. Sasuke was clearly fighting to move but he was stuck in his position as though frozen in place. His face was turning red from effort and more than a little embarrassment and anger. His eyes flicked to Hinata, who stood in reply and approached him.

She stood, not more than a foot and a half above his crouch and fingered his ruined forehead protector where it rested against his hair.

She sighed sadly, "To answer you, Uchiha Sasuke, I am not afraid to die. I think I am more afraid to live. Like you, I feel alone and lost. Sometimes, all I want to do is leave this village and never look back." He growled his denial but she ignored him and flicked her eyes to her two protectors, her teammates. "But then I see them, my friends, my family, my team and I'm not so alone. You had that, Sasuke. You had them. But you pushed them away because you feared the feelings you felt around the. It is too late, I'm afraid, to fix what you so carelessly shattered. What will you do now?"

He either refused to answer her or she had been a little overzealous with her jutsu and had even sealed his jaw shut. It didn't matter, because Naruto was already hauling him back to headquarters to be placed in a protected cell for the night.

Gaara stayed behind with her and together they sat and watched twilight fall.

"Were you afraid, Hinata, really?" Hinata glanced at Gaara. He was resting against his hands, his legs stretched comfortably out in front of him. He nudged her leg with his foot when she took too long to answer that he began to suspect that he had spoken too softly.

She looked back at the sky just in time to see the first stars come out.

"I'm not sure. I think I was more upset than anything. I was thinking of how many things I wanted to do still, and of all the people I wanted to be with and the things that I wanted to say to all of them." She nudged him with her shoulder, both comfortable in casual touch like they never used to be. It had taken several years and missions and wounds and nightmares to get them to the point of casual affection that Naruto had already given them.

"I kept thinking of who would replace me as your third teammate and if he or she would be able to deal with your bad days and Naruto's anxiety. I wondered if he or she would be able to comfort you at night like we do or calm Naruto's need for acceptance and affection. But most of all, I wondered if I would be missed as much as I would miss." She wiped away a stray tear inconspicuously, but Gaara missed little, if anything at all, and he rubbed at her other cheek, which felt a little damp.

He pulled his hand away and stared at her tears on his fingers. He rubbed his fingers together, as if to absorb her sadness and caught her eye.

"I think," he said softly while reaching up to rub a spot at the crook of her neck, "that Naruto and I would be unable to function for a very long time without you."

He held up his hand for her to inspect and she saw, in the dim light, the sparkle of several grains of sand.

She raised startled eyes to his and he grinned unabashedly, "We take preventative measures against that. It's how we found you. My sand and his nose."

She laughed, the sound catching on the tears rising in her throat. She had wondered how they had found them so far away from town.

A blur of color caught her eye as Naruto slid down onto the grass next to her. He grinned at his teammates but frowned when he caught the glimmer of tears on her cheeks.

"Hinata, are you all right? Are you in shock?" She shook her head as she wiped at her wet face. He turned to Gaara. "What's wrong with her?"

Gaara shrugged and pointed to his hand where the sand still shimmered. Naruto nodded in understanding.

He wrapped an arm around Hinata, his fingers resting comfortably against Gaara's sleeve.

"You thought we wouldn't watch out for you, Hinata, when we weren't around? Geez, can you imagine what the two of us would be like to live with without you around?"

Gaara nodded and pressed closer to her side as his arm slid around her waist.

"We protect our precious people, right Gaara?"

The man in question nodded and discreetly slid some sand onto Naruto's body as well. Today was too close of a call.

Hinata, cocooned between the two warm bodies of her teammates, didn't try to fight the lethargy that came over her body.

Before she slid into sleep, resting against the solid strength on either side of her, she felt lips brush against her forehead.

My precious people.


End file.
